"Probably just as well," Erskine nodded with an equally exaggerated sigh. "Love triangles tend to get overly complicated."
It was good to see they were over Gabe, at any rate. Erskine and Dexter both. In fact, almost everyone seemed to be taking the news rather well, up to and including Bliss. Although, if the way Bliss was studying Skulduggery indicated anything, the news of just who Lord Vile really was occupied his full attention. Skulduggery didn't exactly have eyes at the moment to give anything away, but he still avoided meeting Bliss's gaze. The strongest man in the world also had the most piercing eyes Skulduggery had ever seen, whether he was possessing the body of a Cleaver or not.
Avoiding Bliss's gaze became remarkably easy once Gabe spoke. Neither Erskine nor Dexter seemed to notice the discrepancy in his words, but Skulduggery - cursed as he was with such a finely honed and observant detective's instinct - did, and his skull spun towards Gabe. 'Three?' he directed silently towards the Archangel. 'You're not counting Valkyrie, are you? Or China?'
True to form, as always, China spoke up right after Solomon did. "If it's all the same to you, I'm not going to get involved. I have quite enough problems without trying to keep someone else's mind tethered."
Erskine laughed. "And here we all were, hoping we could count on you, China."
"That's a grave mistake I dearly hope none of you will ever make again."
"Why would you think we were making it in the first place?" Erskine wondered, something pointed and almost accusatory in his tone. "Were you perhaps thinking of volunteering?"
"Hardly. You all seem to come to me for every little thing these days. I thought it was best to make my thoughts clear from the start."
If not China and Valkyrie, who was Gabe thinking of?
Skulduggery eyed the Archangel a moment longer as the obvious answer finally occurred to him, then forcibly dragged that thought back under lock and key so he could focus on the more important things. Like the cane he'd been holding for the last few minutes, which was a good few minutes longer than he'd intended.
It was long, slender, and black, perfectly aerodynamic in the way that only a weapon would be, and - in Skulduggery's opinion - very tasteful, if one went in for such things as canes. The top flipped back to reveal a knife, sharp enough to slice through bone if it had to. There were no additional charms apart from the standard hidden ones, which would make the cane seem like an ordinary cane even to the most sophisticated metal detector. Useful in airports, particularly.
Skulduggery hooked the end on his wrist bone, spun the cane in a wide circle around his arm a few times, and then held it out towards Dexter, who was standing a bit closer than the ex-Necromancer was. "Here you are, Solomon. Long overdue. Not intended in any way to make you feel obligated to do anything. What do you think?"
no subject
It was good to see they were over Gabe, at any rate. Erskine and Dexter both. In fact, almost everyone seemed to be taking the news rather well, up to and including Bliss. Although, if the way Bliss was studying Skulduggery indicated anything, the news of just who Lord Vile really was occupied his full attention. Skulduggery didn't exactly have eyes at the moment to give anything away, but he still avoided meeting Bliss's gaze. The strongest man in the world also had the most piercing eyes Skulduggery had ever seen, whether he was possessing the body of a Cleaver or not.
Avoiding Bliss's gaze became remarkably easy once Gabe spoke. Neither Erskine nor Dexter seemed to notice the discrepancy in his words, but Skulduggery - cursed as he was with such a finely honed and observant detective's instinct - did, and his skull spun towards Gabe. 'Three?' he directed silently towards the Archangel. 'You're not counting Valkyrie, are you? Or China?'
True to form, as always, China spoke up right after Solomon did. "If it's all the same to you, I'm not going to get involved. I have quite enough problems without trying to keep someone else's mind tethered."
Erskine laughed. "And here we all were, hoping we could count on you, China."
"That's a grave mistake I dearly hope none of you will ever make again."
"Why would you think we were making it in the first place?" Erskine wondered, something pointed and almost accusatory in his tone. "Were you perhaps thinking of volunteering?"
"Hardly. You all seem to come to me for every little thing these days. I thought it was best to make my thoughts clear from the start."
If not China and Valkyrie, who was Gabe thinking of?
Skulduggery eyed the Archangel a moment longer as the obvious answer finally occurred to him, then forcibly dragged that thought back under lock and key so he could focus on the more important things. Like the cane he'd been holding for the last few minutes, which was a good few minutes longer than he'd intended.
It was long, slender, and black, perfectly aerodynamic in the way that only a weapon would be, and - in Skulduggery's opinion - very tasteful, if one went in for such things as canes. The top flipped back to reveal a knife, sharp enough to slice through bone if it had to. There were no additional charms apart from the standard hidden ones, which would make the cane seem like an ordinary cane even to the most sophisticated metal detector. Useful in airports, particularly.
Skulduggery hooked the end on his wrist bone, spun the cane in a wide circle around his arm a few times, and then held it out towards Dexter, who was standing a bit closer than the ex-Necromancer was. "Here you are, Solomon. Long overdue. Not intended in any way to make you feel obligated to do anything. What do you think?"